長句是指聯(lián)合成分多，修飾語多，結(jié)構(gòu)比較復(fù)雜的句子。短句則是指形體短，詞數(shù)少的句子。長句嚴(yán)密周詳、精確明晰、委婉細(xì)膩、氣勢暢達(dá)，便于周密、詳盡地闡述道理，鄭重、莊嚴(yán)地表明觀點(diǎn)主張，氣勢磅礴地抒發(fā)思想感情，繪聲繪影地描寫敘述。短句簡潔、明快、活潑、有力。由于活潑、明快，就可以干脆地?cái)⑹鍪挛?；由于簡潔、有力，就可以表示緊張、激動(dòng)的情緒，堅(jiān)定的意志和肯定的語氣。英語中的長句多半是并列句、復(fù)合句和并列復(fù)合句。短句則多半是簡單句。當(dāng)然， 有的簡單句也是長句。
因?yàn)闈h語的語法關(guān)系往往要靠詞序和虛詞來表示，句子一長，過多地運(yùn)用虛詞，重三疊四，頭緒紛繁，造成句子內(nèi)部層次復(fù)雜，不容易駕馭，從而帶來組織語句和理解語意的雙重麻煩。因而，在文學(xué)作品中，短句是一種常用技巧，它能直接、清楚地強(qiáng)調(diào)或突出所陳述的事實(shí)或所表達(dá)的概念。從某種意義上來講，漢語中的長句是在“五四”運(yùn)動(dòng)以后受到英語長句的影響才被廣泛應(yīng)用起來的。不過，在《紅樓夢》這部早在兩百多年前寫就的百科全書式的巨著里，為了表現(xiàn)人物錯(cuò)綜復(fù)雜的思想感情，描寫宏大廣闊的場景，容納深刻的社會(huì)內(nèi)容，安排盤根錯(cuò)節(jié)的故事情節(jié)，曹雪芹經(jīng)常選用結(jié)構(gòu)復(fù)雜、節(jié)奏緩慢的長句，來表達(dá)豐富的內(nèi)容。
1) 原來那寶玉自幼生成有一種下流癡病，況從幼時(shí)和黛玉耳鬢廝磨，心情相對，及如今稍明時(shí)事，又看了那些邪書僻傳，凡遠(yuǎn)親近友之家所見的那些閨英闈秀，皆未有稍及林黛玉者，所以早存了一段心事，只不好說出來，故每每或喜或怒，變盡法子暗中試探。（第二十九回）
這是一段——實(shí)際上是一句——非常成功的心理描寫：這個(gè)一 百多字的長句中，包括了三層因果關(guān)系：第一層以“故”為標(biāo)志，指出 “變盡法子暗中試探”的原因；第二層以“所以”為標(biāo)志，說明為什么“早存了一段心事，只不好說出來”；第三層以“凡”為界，解釋“那些閨英闈秀”不及黛玉的理由。而在第三層因果關(guān)系中，又包含著一個(gè)并列關(guān) 系（以“況”為標(biāo)志）和一個(gè)遞進(jìn)關(guān)系（以“既”和“又”為標(biāo)志）。這樣一來，因果復(fù)句中既包含著因果復(fù)句，又包含著并列復(fù)句和遞進(jìn)復(fù)句，一環(huán)套一環(huán)，組成一個(gè)邏輯嚴(yán)密的多重復(fù)句，準(zhǔn)確恰當(dāng)?shù)孛鑼懥藢氂竦男睦怼?/p>
下面，我們來分析這一多重復(fù)句的譯文：
楊譯：
Now Baoyu had always been deplorably eccentric. Since childhood, moreover, he had been intimate with Daiyu, finding her a kindred spirit. Thus now that he knew a little more and had read some improper books, he felt none of the fine girls he had seen in the families of relatives and friends fit to hold a candle to her. He had long since set his heart on having her, but could not admit as much. So whether happy or angry, he used every means to test her secretly.
霍譯：
Bao-yu had from early childhood manifested a streak of morbid sensibility, which being brought up in close proximity with a nature so closely in harmony with his own had done little to improve. Now that he had reached an age when both his experience and the reading of forbidden books had taught him something about 'worldly matters', he had begun to take a rather more grown-up interest in girls. But although there were plenty of young ladies of outstanding beauty and breeding among the Jia family's numerous acquaintance, none of them, in his view, could remotely compare with Dai-yu. For some time now his feeling for her had been a very special one; but precisely because of this same morbid sensibility, he had shrunk from telling her about it. Instead, whenever he was feeling particularly happy or particularly cross, he would invent all sorts of ways of probing her to find out if this feeling for her was reciprocated.
從篇幅來看，霍譯遠(yuǎn)比楊譯長；細(xì)讀譯文，雖然二者都是簡單句與復(fù)合句并用，但較明顯的特征是楊譯多用短句，霍譯則多用長句。盡管如此，楊譯并沒有少譯、漏譯之嫌；霍譯也沒有多譯、補(bǔ)譯之疑。通過更大范圍的比較，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)楊霍兩個(gè)譯本在篇幅上所呈現(xiàn)的基本特征就是楊短霍長。也就是說，兩位翻譯大師在長期的翻譯實(shí)踐中已逐步形成了自己獨(dú)特的風(fēng)格。這一方面要?dú)w因于二者不同的語言文化根基，以及在此基礎(chǔ)上的語言表達(dá)方面的個(gè)人習(xí)慣；另一方面，也體現(xiàn)了二者文學(xué)素養(yǎng)和藝術(shù)鑒賞的獨(dú)特性，以及在譯文中錘詞煉句的不同特色。 談到“楊短霍長”的譯文特點(diǎn)，我們再舉一例如下：
上一篇：斯圖爾特?貝茨(E. Stuart Bates)的著作《現(xiàn)代翻譯》
下一篇：波斯蓋特（J. P. Postgate)的《譯論與譯作》
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